Cyberattacks rank as the number one risk of doing business in North America, Europe and the East Asia-Pacific region, according to a World Economic Forum report, Regional Risks of Doing Business . While business leaders in other areas of the globe are more concerned about unemployment, unstable governments and oil prices, cyber risks rank as the fifth highest worldwide.

The concern about cyberattacks shows just how critical cybersecurity has become, ranking even higher than terrorism in the global top 10. Not surprisingly, cyber risks are a bigger concern among the most industrialized areas of the globe such as North America, where cyberattacks have become an all-too-common occurrence.

“In Canada, 87% of businesses reported being the victim of a successful breach in 2017,” the report says. “In early 2018, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence cited cyber vulnerability as a top risk for government and businesses alike in a hearing before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.”

Around the globe, cyberattacks rose to number five in 2018 from eight the previous year. The report attributes this to massive cyber events such as the WannaCry and NotPetya ransomware infections in spring 2017, which jumped countries and continents to cause disruption and inflict damage.

“The WannaCry ransomware attack affected 300,000 machines across 150 countries, while the NotPetya malware attack caused huge corporate losses. For example, Merck, FedEx and Maersk each reported losses of around $300 million in the third quarter of 2017 alone,” the report says, adding: “2017 was the year the world began to take seriously the potential extent of our vulnerability to cyberattack disruptions.”

Regional Differences

The WEF’s report was based on 12,548 responses to a question about business risks in the organization’s Executive Opinion Survey, conducted between January and June 2018. Despite regional differences in the perspective of business risks, the survey found that cyberattacks also rank high in some places outside North America, Europe and the East Asia and Pacific region.

For instance, cyberattacks are among the top three biggest risks in Bangladesh, Botswana, Ethiopia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Tanzania and the United Arab Emirates. A related risk, “data fraud or theft,” ranked in the top three in Bulgaria, China, Denmark, The Gambia, Germany, Indonesia, Jamaica, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Senegal, Singapore and the United States.

The report acknowledges that cyberattacks are a bigger concern in more advanced economies, where business leaders typically don’t have to worry as much about government instability, unemployment or economic crisis.

“Of the 19 countries that ranked it number one, 14 were from Europe and North America (the others were India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates). By contrast, of the 34 countries that ranked “unemployment or underemployment” first, 22 were from sub-Saharan Africa,” the report said.

Heightened Awareness

The rise of cyberattacks in the global top 10 business risks highlights just how serious the problem has become. But perhaps more importantly, it means business leaders are paying more attention to cyber risks. Hopefully, it will compel them to adopt comprehensive cybersecurity policies and practices.